Bittersweet
by crybabydoll1
Summary: Sakura Haruno was used to giving. Giving until pieces of herself were wiped away and only her childish hopes remained. She supposed it was time to take, and to do that she needed to start looking at herself as more than the kindhearted child she had once been, the child who believed that life was fair. (Sakura-Centric, Team Seven-Centric, Pairing/Rating undecided.)
1. Bloom

Life is rarely fair, and while that was not so much a lesson to be learned as it was an undeniable fact, children still harbor the well-meaning lessons that their parents have taught them. Such as; 'if you do good things, good things will happen' or 'hard work will always result in at least a reward, even if it's simply a pat on the back for trying'.

And once children are released into the world to mingle amongst other children, eventually they learn this fact. However, some children learn it a little later in life, usually the ones who have taken the innocent lectures of their doting parents too literally- such is the case for Sakura Haruno.

The girls at the academy bullied her mercilessly for the mere physical flaw of her forehead being just a little too large, so she tried to her best abilities to befriend these girls. She invited Ame to sleepovers to her house and didn't complain when the older girl broke her dolls or cut some of her hair off. She took Ryu out with her family to a nice dinner, and when the girl continued to mock her behind her back at school Sakura tried even harder to appease her, letting her 'borrow' some of her nicer clothing only for it never to be returned- or partially destroyed when it was. She took the blame when Ako threw an eraser at a girl a grade beneath them, taking the detention in her stead. Sakura truly believed that if she worked hard, and showed the girls that she was a kind and caring person that her constant ridicule would stop.

When Ino Yamanaka came along, she figured that her hard work had actually payed off, Sakura Haruno finally had a friend who really seemed to care about her and her feelings. They played together constantly, Ino showed her how to properly do her hair and let her borrow articles of clothing her own parents could never afford, she went to see plays with her parents and even showed her new friend where she'd gathered many pretty bottles and flowers and stashed them away inside of a hollowed out old tree- she'd shared her secret sanctuary with the girl in hopes of deepening their friendship.

Things however, proceeded the way they do, once puberty popped up amongst the school children and she and her only and best friend developed a crush on the same heart throb, Sasuke Uchiha, their friendship quickly fell apart.

Sakura, however, still believed in the promise of hard work equating to good luck and reward, and worked even harder to win Sasuke's attention. She grew out her hair and started dieting, hoping a slimmer waist would make up for her lack of feminine curves, she borrowed her mother's makeup when the first signs of acne popped up and dark circles appeared beneath her eyes, hard work would grab his attention, she was sure of it.

She studied every single night and passed every exam presented to her without a single error, she was certain that if she was going to be placed on a team with someone as skilled as Sasuke she needed to be first in class. So she worked tirelessly, seemingly spending more time at the library than her own home. Forgetting to actually eat most nights because she prefered to keep her nose in her books, so certain they would be the key to success that would turn her life around- people would want to be her friend, Sasuke would actually see her, and she'd be a successful shinobi.

When the time for graduation came her parents were waiting for her outside of school, so ready to congratulate her on becoming a real shinobi, a genin with the whole world ahead of her. All of the students poured out of the academy doors to their parents who were waiting with open arms, she saw clansmen of her village standing with their heirs, and felt small in their presence.

She saw one boy standing alone in the crowd- Naruto Uzumaki, she knew him from class, but he was such a loudmouth she'd never considered approaching him. She doubted they would get along at all, he was in trouble for some silly prank/ act of vandalism he'd committed most of the time anyway- but it wasn't until today that she noticed he was entirely alone out there, amongst a sea of parents doting on their children. Where were his?

It wasn't until the day after that she spoke to him- when they'd been assigned the same team. She was absolutely thrilled to have been placed with Sasuke, but not so much Naruto. His poor behavior was likely to get her into trouble and she didn't want that. It wasn't hard to imagine 'guilty by association' was what made the other children so wary of the blonde- yet, while she'd assumed his obnoxious and over the top behavior was what kept so many of his peers away- the way the parents of said children looked at the blonde with such venomous contempt, she wasn't so sure it was simply because the boy pulled a few annoying pranks, it had to be something else.

That day she was also introduced to her jounin sensei, whom she assumed would be a proper and eager mentor who would help them find their footing in their career goals- she was wrong. Kakashi-Sensei was anything other than proper- and eager was the very last thing anyone would call him. He was uninterested, insulting and improper- going as far as to read pornography openly in front of his students, but Sakura tried to sound enthusiastic and jovial, to no avail- as her reward was simply an annoyed, tired sigh and backhanded compliment to her intelligence.

When they were brought into the training grounds the next day for what she assumed would be an introduction to their studies, she was surprised to hear her sensei had brought them there to test their abilities, but it was nothing like the examinations she'd had at the academy. He expected three genin to take on an experienced jonin and demanded that if one failed to retrieve the bells tied to his waist that they would be sent back to the academy.

Unsurprisingly, they'd all failed. Sasuke had been thwarted at every turn because he simply refused to act offensively, Sakura could say the same happened to Naruto but his failures seemed to be a direct result of his own constant impulsivity- and she didn't even have the slightest opportunity to attempt to get a bell, she'd simply been trapped in a genjutsu and left to roam the vast surrounding forest. As much as she wanted to taunt her teammates- Sasuke included, as he'd been particularly rude to her today- she was probably the last person that had the right to.

Luckily, the not-so-secret key to passing the exam, was teamwork. And Sasuke's blatant offering of food to Naruto was taken as a passing grade. Sakura, who was too fearful to go against Kakashi-Sensei's warning, soon realized that breaking the rules shouldn't constitute a reward- it's what had kept her safe for so many years-, but sometimes it did . She went home that day feeling a particularly heavy lump in her throat, and when her parents excitedly asked her how her first training session had gone, she locked herself in her bedroom and stayed there until they'd gone to sleep.

She still intently believed in hard work garnering a reward, so when they were given D-Rank missions around the village she never complained and completed their job to the best of her abilities- though her teammates made it incredibly difficult. While weeding Mr. Taguchi's garden Naruto became enraged at Sasuke's teasing and began throwing clumps of dirt at him- pulling up some of the potato plants in the process. Though her section of the garden was perfectly weeded and the chaos only seemed to be reigning on the boy's side, she too was punished for their behavior.

When they were sent to retrieve a lost cat, Naruto continually attempted to snatch the scared feline right from it's resting place and sending it scurrying off into the wilderness, it took nearly a week to finally return the cat to it's owner and none of them were paid for their efforts. She became increasingly annoyed at her male companions, and though she still found herself fawning over the Uchiha's mysterious and dark features she soon realized that while he excelled at the physical requirements to become a shinobi, he was just as incompetent as Naruto at times.

Kakashi-Sensei rarely trained them on anything interesting, if anything they did basic physical training such as running laps- which she sincerely believed was simply to spare him some time on days he wasn't interested in teaching them. Why give the two top students to someone who refused to help them refine their skills?

It was clear to her however- that while she excelled over her comrades in book smarts and etiquette, she fell flat in physical tasks the boys seemed to exceed at with little effort or care. She'd never thought that running a lap around the village would leave her choking for air while her two teammates ran straight past without even a look of fatigue.

Winter was approaching and while she'd been making her own money during her tasks around the village- when Naruto didn't ruin them- she found herself feeling less like a shinobi than ever before. She hadn't learned a single jutsu since the academy and while the muscles in her legs were becoming more toned and defined with the strenuous physical activities and training, her teammates seemed to beat her at every turn. She chalked it up to her failing to train her body as much as she'd trained her mind during her time in the academy.

She would work harder, good things would surely come. If anything, she could put herself on equal grounds with her teammates.

The following spring, after the cold season had bled away and was quickly replaced with Konoha's hot sun and the fresh green of surrounding trees had returned, they'd been assigned their first "real" mission. A C-Rank escort mission to a little village in the land of waves. To say she was excited was an understatement- she was thrilled to be one of the first genin to get an out of village mission. She'd never left Konoha's gates and her parents couldn't have been prouder.

The excitement bled away within their first three days of travel, they had been attacked not once, but twice. They'd only managed to survive because Kakashi-Sensei and Sasuke had taken the reigns at every sign of danger. She wasn't sure what had happened to the first pair of assassins that they'd come across, though her stomach churned when she realized they were more than likely dead. The second- well, the second pair were probably the most frightening she'd ever witnessed, and they'd barely escaped with their lives. Kakashi-Sensei was incapacitated for nearly an entire day, and everyone was on edge. For she knew that if the pair of shinobi that had attacked them returned in the night, Kakashi-Sensei would not be there to help them.

A moment of happiness made the events of the past few days subside, even just for a little while. Kakashi-Sensei was teaching them how to climb trees using only their chakra- Sakura had managed to do it her first attempt without fail, while Naruto and Sasuke had trouble making it a few feet off the ground. It was nice to be complimented for her work- it was the only compliment her sensei had ever awarded her- but it all came crashing down when she realized he'd done it to enthuse the other boys into action. She spent the rest of her evening doing housework until Kakashi had arrived alone, not even slightly interested in talking to the young kunoichi.

The mysterious assassins returned, this time with the clear intent to kill. Never in her life had she been so frightened as she stood before Tazuna, the bridge builder, a kunai shakily gripped in her small hands, when she realized the true power gap between her and those around her. She was less threatening than a bumblebee to them- and just as easy to squash.

Another gap became very apparent to her that day, the gap between her and Sasuke as Kakashi boastingly sent him off to fight against the masked assassin, and the gap between her and Naruto and perhaps even everyone and Naruto, as she saw something unleashed from within him that brought light to all of her suspicions. She wasn't certain what that orange chakra was, or how the blue of Naruto's eyes had bled into an angry, unusual red, so similar to Sasuke's strange doujutsu, but it was very clear that the two boys she'd trained alongside were very different from other genin.

When they'd returned to the village after a tearful revolution and new revelations about what it means to be a shinobi, things were very different between the three. A strange, building tension seemed to be growing between her male teammates. She couldn't understand if Sasuke resented Naruto for his rescue, taking it as a blow to his pride, or if he resented the strange and awe-striking power Naruto seemed to possess. It was clear to her now, that their fights weren't simply the bickering of two boys but a genuine animosity, an unspoken challenge of dominance between the two. This animosity left little room for her, and she found herself awkwardly out of place among the three males of her group- feeling as though she was the deadweight she'd always thought Naruto to be.

Word had also reached the village about a group of genin returning from an A-Rank mission, and considering they had been the first team to leave the village on a mission- it wasn't hard to guess what they'd arrived from. Her parents were furious when she returned home, her father nearly pummeling her sensei as he arrived at the door with a doctor from the village hospital.

Weeks of mental and physical examinations as well as three different mission debriefings took place, each more tiring and annoying than the one before. There was nothing more humiliating than explaining your part in the mission and saying that you stood back and watched chaos ensue. Yet, for whatever reason, she kept news of Naruto's strange abilities locked away, it wasn't like her to withhold information, but it felt wrong to explain it. Like a secret that wasn't hers to tell.

They resumed their menial D-Rank missions around the village, more successes than failures this time around, but something heavy hung between the three genin, something she didn't quite understand but was irked by all the same.

Months stretched by in what felt like the blink of an eye, and as the end of summer was coming near, Kakashi made an announcement to the three of his students, that the chunin examinations were around the corner, and he was considering entering them.

Sakura could see through the charade, they weren't even nearly ready to advance in ranks, he simply wanted them out of his hair. Not that he tried to hide it, he was always very vocal about his dislike in the area of teaching- mostly though, that was affirmed by the fact that he'd failed entirely to teach them anything beside the basics they'd already learned a hundred times over in the academy.

When they'd arrived at the building for the first part of examinations- she quickly realized some older combatants had used a genjutsu in hopes of thinning out the competition, she was hopeful that it would show her teammates that she could at times be useful, but her moment of recognition was quickly overshadowed when another genin- one of her village but not her graduating class, introduced himself as an admirer of her, and then proceeded to be dragged away by his teammates, another pair of unrecognized konoha genin, though one deeply resembled a quiet girl from her class- an older brother, perhaps?

She couldn't believe her luck when she was told the first part of the exam was a written test, and by the looks of it, things she'd studied. She was fortunate to have studied beyond what was necessary, but she knew her comrades didn't particularly excel in this field so she hoped that her score would carry the three well enough- as it looked like almost none of the other genin were answering questions as quickly as she had been.

The test meant absolutely nothing, to her horror, and as they were introduced to the real exam, her hopes of contributing to her team's success was quickly diminishing. 'The Forest of Death' they called it, a name that seemed to be well fitting as she peered into the dense and dark forest. Naruto and Sasuke seemed less than bothered- even boastful, and she couldn't help but feel entirely alone in her experience- soon, she would be in the literal sense.

So many horrific events proceeded that day she wasn't sure she was even able to fully comprehend them- from the eerie snake-like man who had seemed to appear entirely for Sasuke, to kill him, to maim him? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that both of her teammates were unconscious, and very sick.

She tucked them away in a heavily trapped cave, meekly and anxiously standing guard outside of it. She was entirely alone, and without them, she was at a complete loss. The competitors were ruthless- and while friendly nin outnumbered foreign nin, she'd seen the catastrophic tracks they'd left behind. This was no place for inexperienced genin, and she couldn't believe her mentor would thrust them into this without much of any training.

As she sat out in the cold, dark and damp forest, hiding beneath a thick patch of foliage with her eyes focused entirely on where she'd stashed her teammates away, she thought back to her childhood.

She remembered a time when her grandparents were still around, and the hot sun on her freckled shoulders as she plucked weeds from her grandmother's flower garden, she would be out there for hours without complaint, laughing and happily expressing her dreams and joys to her amused and kind grandmother, and how after every day of hard work, she'd be rewarded with lemonade and almond cookies.

She wondered how things had become so surreal, how the visceral death of other genin was supposed to even test their abilities. It seemed more like a lesson in jungle law than it did a test of their skillset. If this was only the second part of the exam, what could possibly lie ahead? And how could she proceed, did she even want to proceed?

As she heard the steady, almost lazy footsteps approaching, a scream threatened to escape her lips, but she swallowed it back with a muffled choke as every hair on her body stood on end, sending electric chills through her entire form. Why? Why now, when she was entirely alone, dirty and exhausted? Were they even aware of her presence? She couldn't leave Naruto and Sasuke. Even if she wanted to, she'd never escape without them.

Her bones rattled with fear as they leisurely walked into the clearing, there were three of them, dressed in a similar fashion, she couldn't clearly see their hiyate but she could easily assume they were another team, though they looked at least a few years older than herself and her teammates, and by their willingness to be out in the open- they were strong.

She tried to imagine herself sinking into the earth around her, disappearing into the ground, to become invisible. She could feel her heartbeat thrumming through all of her extremities as she sucked in small, choking breaths. She wanted to gulp air as a man dying of thirst would suck in water, but she had to remain silent. Should found her lungs burning with desire for more oxygen as the three genin talked just out of her reach, but she could hear the slight murmurs of a conversation, and by the confident smirk of one of the two males, she assumed whatever they were talking about wasn't in her favor.

Something was rustling behind her, but she couldn't afford to move. Her heart raced violently as she desperately tried to zero in on both the sounds behind her, and the obvious threat appearing right before her eyes.

She'd always thought that if you worked hard, and did good things, that life would extend to you the rewards of reaping what you sow. That there was some sort of cosmic balance directly tied to the cause and effect of one's actions, that gods smiled upon good and hard working children.

Today she became blatantly aware that life wasn't fair, and no one was listening to her prayers.

As the three foreign genin disappeared into the familiar smoking 'pop' of clones, she was ripped backwards, her hair ripping away in small clumps as the air seemed to evacuate her lungs, she was thrown harshly backwards, not even able to scramble to her weapons pouch before the hand still grasping clumps of her hair shoved forward, slamming her face against the ground, dirt and small rocks became embedded in her open wounds as the violent crack of the bridge of her nose rattled through her skull.

Blood quickly began streaming down the front of her face and down the back of her throat, the pain as her attacker seemingly rubbed her broken face against the ground was white-hot and sent a strangled croak falling from her bloodied lips.

"Out here and all alone?" A distinctly feminine voice cooed mockingly, Sakura couldn't muster up words, throat full of blood and lungs full of a heavy layer of dirt, she choking spat a long, oozing trail of viscera onto her lap, desperately flailing against the larger girl's hold as she slowly regained her senses.

A hard, sandled food slammed into her back and with an affirmative yank to her now burning scalp she stopped struggling, noticing the other two nin had come into view, the looks on their faces portrayed anything but sympathy.

"What do we do with her?" The girl questioned, motioning to Sakura as she placed a free hand on her hip, lips curling into a cruel smile. The two males lazily scanned over Sakura's particularly pathetic looking form, looking lax and unconcerned. She would have been insulted, had fear not already rooted her to the ground, leaving her shaking and gripping at the dirt.

"She's not our target, Orochimaru is only concerned with that Sasuke kid, just kill her." One of the boys responded, shrugging his shoulders lazily, yet the other watched her, with fascinated eyes as blood began pooling in her lap.

"Think she'll bleed to death if we just leave her like that?" He cackled, voice gruff and synonymous with a childlike glee that horrified Sakura to her core, she winced as a harsh tug ripped her head backwards and to the side as the brunette girl bent over her, smiling as she examined her handywork.

The position was awkward and sent blood rushing down Sakura's throat once again, though struggling to breathe through the thick, metallic blood running down her throat and lethargic with fear and adrenaline, she knew she couldn't simply sit and allow this to continue, they weren't simply going to get tired of her and wander away like her bullies had. This was simply a game to them and she was making it easy.

So she did the only thing she could think of, and with the hand that had buried itself deep into the earth, in her writhing moments of pain, she grabbed a handful of loose soil, and tossed it directly into the other girl's face.

As her grip was released and a pained growl left her, Sakura knew she'd managed to get her in the eyes and scrambled out from beneath the two, the other male nin who'd shown no interest in her was now proceeding to scream profanities at her.

Blood was pumping harder in her ears than in her chest as she narrowly wove through a sea of kunai, some just barely nicking the exposed flesh on her calves, but the pain went unnoticed in comparison to the burning sting of her badly broken nose.

Unfortunately, she didn't even have the option of vacating the area, as her teammates were still unconscious, and now she was horrifically aware that one of said unconscious teammates, was the target of the incredibly strong team of nin currently intent on killing her.

And he was sitting in the recesses of the cave like a sitting duck, with no means of defense even if he woke up this very instant, as the wounds he'd suffered during their brush with the strange man had left him in dire need of medical attention she wasn't properly trained to give.

She summoned some shadow clones but it did little to keep them at bay, though only one had gone arial in an attempt to actively seek her, the more malicious of the two, she couldn't leave the area and as dumb as she sincerely wanted to believe they were, they would soon catch on to the fact that she was reluctant to flee and start investigating _why_ she was so reluctant to flee.

A large shuriken whizzed past her, roughly tagging the tail of her dress to the thick bark of a mossy tree, she yelped helplessly as she tore at the fabric, leaving hardly any of her dress left, it had ripped off the majority of the tail, leaving the flesh below her navel bare as she caught the full force of his fist against the tender area below her eye, the intensity threw her backwards and she had to glue herself in an awkward, half-standing half-hanging position with chaka.

Her vision was violently doubled, making her stomach flip violently as she found herself unable to hold her focus on her chakra, sliding down the surface of the tree, leaving her arm and stomach burning and raw. The man was nearly right on top of her, if he grabbed for her now he'd just barely snag a few strands of her hair, he quickly closed the space between them, and as he brandished a kunai at her, smile widening as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his chest, attempting to place the glistening blade at the base of her throat, she slammed her elbow into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs as she sloppily snagged his wrist, in a moment of panic and fear she forced it forward, digging the pointed edge into the smooth 'V' of muscle beneath his chin.

A noise Sakura had never heard a human being emit left his throat as he stumbled backwards dumbly, hand attempting to cover the open wound, but blood began pooling between his fingers, congealing as he continued making choked, gurgling breaths, before he collapsed into the earth, moving weakly.

The contents of her stomach splashed against the ground as she shakily backed away from the scene in front of her, taking large, gasping breaths as she scrambled to look around her, and by the silence of the forest, either his teammates had left, or she'd wandered just out of their range, she wasn't sure.

She hastily ran over to the still slowly-moving nin, noticing his eyes were blinking rapidly as he stared into the sky at nothing, his hands weakly pushing against her as she emptied his weapons pouch and what would've once been a nice item, a scroll. She took it fearfully, not really caring if they even passed the exam at this point, simply wanting an escape.

As she circled back, silently and fearfully, stopping only to throw up or to scan every sound around her, she slipped into the hidden cavern, relieved to see her teammates still there, unharmed and resting silently in the darkness.

She didn't dare light a fire, instead she simply sat, pressed against the stone wall near the camouflaged mouth of the cave, warily waiting and watching, kunai held tightly to her chest, caked in her own blood, too fearful to rest.

To her absolute horror, she heard approaching footsteps, only one set this time. As she pressed herself as comfortably possible to the cavern wall and sucked in her breath, she peered through the curtained veil of moss, not even daring to allow her breath to jostle the surface.

It was an Iwa nin, no older than her, gasping as they ran over the cavern, from some unseen force, and into the clearing just beyond.

The violent sounds of an ear-piercing scream echoed through the clearing, so loud and violent she doubted there was a single soul in the forest who hadn't heard it.

From beyond the forest, a redheaded man emerged, covered in so much viscera Sakura could barely hold back her scream, he was looking directly at the mouth of the cavern, almost directly into her eyes, unmoving, and completely silent.

His comrades from before were nowhere in sight- and from the brief introduction they'd had before the exams, she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd killed them himself, just for the enjoyment of it.

An unseen wind, or perhaps some strange, ghostly force damned her. The veil of moss placed over the mouth of the cavern was pulled aside, and from the meager space between her, and the monster known as Sabaku no Gaara, she saw him smile.

Soon, the 'ghostly force' that had ripped the cover from their sanctuary was revealed to be tiny, immensely strong specks of sand, all escaping through the uncapped gourd strapped to the strange Suna nin's back, and with that same unholy force, dragging her forward, kicking and screaming by her ankle.

She pleaded, desperately and unashamedly for him to stop, she was nothing in comparison to a monster like him and couldn't even deceive herself into thinking she had the slightest chance. She was a coward, but not a fool. Not anymore.

As she was thrown before him, shaking weakly, his sea-foam green eyes narrowed, scanning around her, she was thankful for the absolute darkness of the cavern, for shielding her teammates from his vision.

"Where is Sasuke Uchiha?" He deadpanned, head cocking menacingly to the side, observing her quivering form with what she was certain was delight.

"I don't know." She hurriedly mumbled, too scared to say anything else.

"Oh you don't, do you?" He hummed, unamused and very blatantly annoyed, and as sand was violently coerced from the gourd on his back, it began swarming around them like hornets, scratching and burning and slicing at her open wounds, she whimpered weakly.

She hurriedly scrambled for the heaven scroll in her bag, intending to throw it open and surrender the exam, she didn't care if her career was over. She didn't care about damning Naruto and Sasuke to remain genin forever- what mattered more was that they remained alive.

A large glob of metallic and damp smelling sand caught her wrists, yanking her roughly side to side, and as her joints popped violently, she sucked air through her teeth to swallow the bubble of her scream.

And then it had all stopped, the pain, the horrendous noise of Gaara's malicious cackle, everything seemed to dull, and she was alone in the clearing, an earth scroll laid out before her, taunting her very existence. She knew instantly why he had left the scroll, and for what reason he didn't kill her she wasn't certain. Perhaps if she died he assumed that her team would simply drop out of the exam, or maybe her pitiful show was simply sickening to him- all she knew was that he'd left the scroll for one reason only, and perhaps a more horrifying one than before.

He wanted to fight Sasuke, and if he died in the forest he would never have that opportunity.

She grabbed both scrolls, her hideaway no longer safe and her mind unable to conceive coherent thoughts, she huddled between her two teammates, ignoring the stinging of her wounds as she drew her knees to her chest and sobbed, an ugly, painful sob. Each breath burned her nose and each movement stung her wounds. She was filthy, caked with so much blood that if she scraped her nail along her hands there would be a centimeter of filth dug away.

She wasn't sure how long she simply sat there, crying, but in that time Sasuke began rustling, and not like he had before, whatever violent fever he'd succumbed to before seemed to be dying off, but his movements now were akin to a violent seizure, he writhed and groaned and hissed, before a strange, black seal began wrapping itself down the column of his neck, reaching the fingertips of his left arm before his eyes flew open, angry and red like fire.

Sakura tried to whisper his name, but throat too sore to speak and too beaten down to fight all that came out was a half-hearted whimper. His head snapped down, and for a moment she was genuinely afraid he would strike her, before his eyes scanned her entire form, violently, predatorily, his jaw clicked as it clenched and he roughly grabbed her by the forearm, yanking her to her feet.

"Who did this to you?" He growled, low and deeply, in a tone she'd never heard him utter. She swore as she looked at him that this was not the Sasuke she'd entered the exam with. This was something- someone different.

"I…" She croaked, unable to explain what had happened to her, what she had done, and what was to come. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried desperately to turn away, to shield her broken and tear-filled face, to retain even the slightest bit of dignity she had left.

He ripped his hand away from her, growling like a rabid animal as he scanned their surroundings, her chest tightened with fear. She felt cornered, afraid and alone. She should feel safe and happy- Sasuke was alright and for the time being they were safe, but something inside her shook with such violent fear his actions were pushing her delicate psyche over a dangerous edge.

She lashed out before her mind could even recognize what she'd done, and it left the echoing sound of a slap rumbling through the density of the cavern. She stared at him, wide eyed as he slowly pulled his face from the momentarily cocked position her strie had left him in, he looked at her with wide, red eyes, black spots twirling violently as he took a menacing step forward, she pressed her back to the wall, shielding her face from a blow she was certain was coming, yet it never did.

When she looked back up, whatever markings had swallowed his body were gone and he was throwing one of Naruto's arms over his shoulder, grunting to motion her to support his other side. She hastily followed suit, burning with guilt she was unable to meet his gaze, though she was sure he was no longer looking at her.

The place he had grabbed her burned, and she did her best not to cry out when Naruto's weight pressed on her sore joints. The atmosphere was silent and unbroken for minutes before Sasuke finally spoke.

"The exam is nearly up, we're not passing. We need to get back to the entrance" He growled, voice clearly still laced with anger- and worst of all, entirely directed at her. It pierced through her to the bone, and if not for half of Naruto's weight leaning on her, she was certain she would have flinched away.

"Actually…" She whispered, eyes glued forward as she repositioned Naruto's weight, "I have both scrolls."

Sasuke's head snapped to the side, eyes now visible slits as she was faced with no appreciation- only fury. "How the hell is that possible?" He hissed, "Where did you get them?"

"One," Sakura swallowed, unable to bring the words to life, "From a group of Sound nin, the other, Gaara gave to me." She whispered. Hands now visibly shaking.

Sasuke seemed to come to the conclusion that she did not want to talk about it, and most likely fully understood why Gaara had handed over a scroll to her so eagerly, as the challenging smirk he'd worn since he'd seen the suna nin quickly returned, and as they picked up pace, with little consideration for her wounds or the pace she could physically manage, they ushered on, to the rendezvous point, Naruto regaining his senses not soon after.

Sakura hung back and Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously opened their 'gifted' scrolls and were met with their former academy teacher, Iruka. Proudly congratulating the team on their efforts and successes. Then, he caught glimpse of Sakura. Admittedly, her physical condition compared to her teammates was astonishing. They all looked like they'd been dragged through miles of broken glass, but Sakura looked immensely worse. Dress ripped more than in half, covered in blood and nose skewed unattractively to the side, one eye almost swollen entirely shut, and a knot the size of a fist in her usually long, shiny hair.

Nothing was said, but she'd never seen him look so stern as he had when he ushered them into the arena, where Kakashi met them at the gates, looking as uninterested and annoyed as he usually does.

"You made it." He said, not with surprise so much as a lackluster acknowledgement. She felt her eyes narrow against her own will, causing her bandages to bunch uncomfortably over her nose. If she thought having her nose broken was painful, having her nose reset was excruciating.

Once again she was looked over, and once again nothing was said, simply a mild look of surprise before everything was once again set into motion. They'd barely had time to dress their wounds and enter the arena before they were thrust right back into action, the preliminaries to the final part of the exam. More than half of the starting competition was already gone, and the three stood among their peers.

Looking the roughest of the group, she felt less out of place when she realized her team in general looked more rough than any of the remaining groups. As she took her place beside Naruto and Sasuke, staring blankly at the fights going on before her, both involving former classmates and new faces, she waited in anticipation, knowing her name wouldn't be far beyond.

As the screen lit up, bright neon lights drilled through her like knives. Though later in life and much harsher than most, she had to face reality, for what it was and what it would continue to be. She couldn't trust in the world outside of her parents comfortable home.

As she climbed down the winding steps into the arena and took her place beside the senbon-chewing practitioner, she watched her former only and best friend take her place beside her.

"Life is not fair." Sakura whispered, staring into the unusual, blue eyes of Ino Yamanaka.

 _ **I do not in any way, shape or form own Naruto or any affiliated characters**_ _. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I haven't written a fic in a very long time and I know now that the series is over most have lost interest. I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and follow for more updates. Please excuse my errors, I know there are probably plenty not including my horrible punctuation, I'm not the best at re-reading my work and I tend to overlook my own mistakes._


	2. Stomp

The roar of the crowd was deafening as it rattled the stony floors of the colosseum. As the senbon-chewing nin spoke, Sakura scanned the crowd for familiar faces, she could just barely see Naruto mouthing words to her, but over her own heartbeat and the cheers, she couldn't even be bothered to attempt to make out the words.

She couldn't bear to meet Ino's eyes, though she could feel them burning into her. From the look on the blonde's face, she was no happier with the match than she was. It was true the two were no longer friends, but neither kunoichi wanted to find himself on opposite ends of the arena. Something heavy hung between them, something unspoken and incredibly painful. Sakura's fingers twitched uncomfortably at her sides, unable to even manage to ball her fists, she awkwardly shifted on her feet while the battle conditions were explained to them. A knockout was an automatic win, and if ever one wanted to forfeit the fight, all they needed to do was raise a hand.

Every bone in her body desired to raise that white flag, to forfeit the fight instead of even trying. Ino had always been better than her at nearly everything, she had her beat by far in terms of appearance, lineage and jutsu. Sure,Sakura excelled at academics but if there was anything the chunin exams had taught her so far it was that she was a paper ninja at best. She doubted Ino's mentor had failed their team nearly as much as her own. Truthfully, she was still too shaken from her encounter in the forest to feel much more than a numbed anxiety and deep sadness, but that made the situation no easier. In fact, Sakura found her head nearly too fogged to pull forth coherent thought- let alone take part in combat.

As they stood parallel to one another, waiting for the buzzer to sound the start of their battle, she examined the way Ino's feet were shifting awkwardly, almost a mirror image to her own. The fight had already been emotionally compromised, and Sakura wasn't certain how it could get much worse.

And then the buzzer sounded, and both girls immediately went on the defensive. Her mind was still too foggy, but she could tell that Ino wasn't in much better shape.

Sakura awkwardly dodged a few senbon, thrown so carelessly she was certain it was nothing more than a mere warning shot. Sakura found her hands skimming over the rough patch of her weapon pouch, but was unable to produce any weapons.

"What's the matter, forehead?"Ino taunted shakily, her eyes betraying the emotions that were stirring within her. Sakura couldn't help the way her body erected at the nickname, what was once a horrible insult, now a painful strike much worse than any physical blow could be.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Sakura made the first move, pivoting forward and lashing out with her feet, parrying Ino's light blows and moving in sync with the other was more like an academy spar than a fight, and neither girl could delude themselves into even thinking there was intent behind their blows. Both secretly hoping nothing was landed, it made no sense and they were tiring themselves out more than anything else.

Ino's growing frustration began to bloom and as the roars of the crowd ticked away at her sanity, she finally tipped and two firm, flat hands made contact with Sakura's shoulders, and with all of her weight she threw the pinkette back, where she landed hard on her bottom.

Time seemed to pause as both girls stared at one another, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Sakura could vaguely hear Naruto's voice, but once again it was lost in the crowd.

Ino's mouth twisted into a hard line as she quickly collected herself, cockily placing a hand over her hip as she stared down at Sakura, "Looks like you plan to lose to me forever."She smirked, her facade of smugness nearly shining through her apologetic eyes.

Something about the fact that Ino had an opening to land an offensive blow and that she had _chosen_ not to irked Sakura. There was a certain extent to which they were allowed to wear kid gloves in this fight, and Ino had made it clear that she pitied the other girl- and something about that really, _really_ ticked her off.

"Sometimes a flower can't bloom if another one is shading it from the sunlight, pig. Isn't that what you said I was, a bud?" Sakura snarled, quickly regaining her footing as she ripped the headband from it's position atop her head, eyes harder than before she did her best to keep her hands from shaking.

"What are you saying? Feeling bad for yourself, forehead?" Ino scoffed, settling into a defensive stance as the two kunoichi began circling one another.

Pausing to tie the scarlet hiyate around her forehead, Sakura smirked, "I don't need you to shade me anymore, Ino. You're going to see me as your equal, whether you want to or not."

Snarling, Ino launched forward, and instead of an open hand, with a fist.

It connected hard to the already blackening bruise just below Sakura's eye, but unlike before she didn't flinch away from it. Although searing pain was beginning to bud in the tender area, Sakura didn't dare pull away, instead gripping Ino's extended forearm with both hands and using all of her force to throw the other girl.

A meter of distance was put between them, but Ino quickly caught her footing, eyes now merely blue slits as she charged forward, leg extending in a harsh swipe, Sakura almost went crashing to the ground as she narrowly dodged the attack. Her joints were still sore and her body still bruised from the horrendous assault only hours ago.

The manner of attack was now much more aggressive, and she was finding it almost impossible to dodge some of the attacks, and with punches landing she was quickly running out of stamina. By the time she could see Ino becoming physically tired, her vision was already starting to double. She didn't think she could keep this up much longer, she felt as though she were already running on borrowed time.

Awkwardly pivoting out of the reach of a more devastating punch her opponent had managed to produce, Sakura could feel the breath hitching in her throat as she handed a hard blow to Ino's lower back, hearing the blonde hiss in pain as she recoiled and another flurry of senbon came flying her way, and though they were directed at her lower body, it was far from a warning shot this time. There was something pleasing about that, in a strange way, even though she thought she may lose her grip on reality at any second, it felt like the first time Ino had ever treated her as an equal, as opposed to a pitiable, bullied little girl.

Tears bubbled at the corners of her eyes, burning the sore and bloodied patches from her earlier assault, but she desperately blinked them away, gasping painfully as Ino's fist connected with her ribs, a painful crack reverberated through her chest as she tumbled into the hard floor of the coliseum. She choked on a pitiable cry as she rolled painfully onto her broken ribs, narrowly avoiding a hard blow to her chest. Ino was wiping the floor with her.

A memory bubbled in the deepest corners of her mind, flashes of a sunny field, filled with beautiful flowers in full bloom. Sakura swore that had she closed her eyes at that very moment, she would have felt a cool breeze on her cheeks.

A strange feeling swelled inside her, sloshing around in her stomach and making her eyes uncomfortably blurred. A coldness she'd scarcely felt before began to prickle in her fingertips and toes.

Her fist connected with Ino's ribs, and as the blonde grunted and stumbled back, nearly tripping over her own feet, Sakura found herself swaying dangerously to the side.

Her movements felt sluggish, unnatural in nature. The roar of the crowd sounded distant and her vision was distorted, tunneling and blurred as her stomach began churning more violently than before.

One moment she was standing, and the next she was on her back, the sheer bodily pain keeping her conscious as Ino straddled her waist, kunai drawn and at her throat. The force of Ino's weight on her broken ribs was enough to draw a broken cry from her throat as she feebly tried to push the other girl off.

"Just give up, Sakura. It's over." Ino growled, eyes tinged pink with exhaustion as she touched the cool blade to the column of Sakura's throat for emphasis. Her eyes betrayed her conflict, as Sakura was sure her own had.

A deep breath tumbled from Sakura's quivering lips. The situation was so deeply ironic. She'd always pictured Ino as the towering force that kept her in the shadows, that which kept her from blooming. Now, she was certain that she's simply given up in her pursuit to beat Ino, she'd simply accepted her place beneath the other girl long ago, be it her superior bloodline lineage or simply the pubescent insecurities that she'd allow to dictate her entire life up to this point. It wasn't Ino's shadow keeping her from blooming, it was her own insecurity and stupidity that kept her from becoming who she'd wanted to be. Too naive and polite to ever be a shinobi.

With a painful display of her flexibility, Sakura hooked her legs back and kicked Ino off, the pain hot and seizing as she did, and with a mule-like kick as she struggled to prop herself up, the heel of her sandaled foot connected hard against the blonde's chin, a stomach-churning crack and the sound of Ino's body falling limp was the last thing she heard before a bandaged hand lifted her forward, steadying her at the waist before lifting her arm over her head, she stared up blankly at the crowd, vision doubled as her limbs suddenly became too heavy for her body.

"Sakura Haruno wins by knockout." The senbon-chewing shinobi bit out, releasing his grip on her, and before her legs could collapse beneath her Kakashi was there, eyes set forward as he helped her clumsily climb the steps to the seats. She'd just barely seen the bright orange of Naruto's jumpsuit before everything blurred together into an ugly grey.

When she woke up, she was surrounded by white, a steady hum from electrical equipment stirring her to consciousness. The lumpy bedding and scratchy sheets irritated her tender state as she attempted to blink away the painful crust around her eyes, now very aware of the searing pain in the center of her face. She didn't remember Ino hitting her in the nose, but her swollen face told her a different story.

"G'mrning frhead."

Sakura hazily dipped her head to the side, surprised to see Ino sitting up in the hospital bed next to her own. The privacy curtain between them had been slid back and she now stared dumbly at the blonde.

"Ino?" Sakura croaked, voice deeply nasal and breathy as she spoke, breath whistling loudly through her broken nose.

Ino snorted in painful laughter and Sakura saw the silver threads keeping her jaw in place and her mouth tightened into a hard line, to which Ino seemingly sighed through her wired jaw.

"Yeah," She murmured through her teeth, "e' rlly did a n'mber n' each other."

Sakura folded her hands uncomfortably over her lap, sure, it had felt nice to beat Ino for once, but she failed to remember that there would be consequences for her actions.

Something plopped down onto her lap, heavy and painful as it fell against her sore thighs. Wincing, she clutched the cool, smooth surface of her headband in her bandaged hand.

The plate of her former headband had been sewed carefully and neatly against a deep crimson cloth. She closed her eyes, and she was back in that spring meadow, the cool breeze washing against her cheeks as she met Ino's blue eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, a tear slid down her cheek. It burned the gash below her eye and dampened the bandages coiled around the center of her face.

"D'nt lose yer backbone n'w, frrhead." Ino smiled.

"Shut up, pig." Sakura coughed, thumb lightly brushing against the smooth surface of her headband, it felt warm to the touch.

"Look whose tlking', you s'nd like the pig." Ino grinned, silver wires glistening beneath the fluorescent lights above.

They talked for a while after that, Ino caught Sakura up on what had happened during the exams and, for what she could understand through Ino's broken Jaw, what was to come next.

Her next comparator was named Kin. A sound nin. Images of her face being slammed into the dirt and the man she had… she visibly flinched, but if Ino had noticed she'd said nothing.

She'd only been unconscious for a few hours and her parents had come by twice, her team once, and someone else, who Ino had not seen had left a small vase of lillies on her bedside table.

She felt oddly cared for, not that she'd ever felt unloved, her parents had been supportive and kind her whole life. Yet, the fact that so many people had come to make sure she was alright had left a warmth in her chest that nearly overcame the icy chill she felt.

When she was discharged that night, her parents escorted her home, doting on her the entire way. Her mother had drawn her a bath and made soba, in hopes of raising her spirits. While the gesture and the bath were both needed and appreciated, Sakura found that she had no appetite.

Something else had coiled into the pit of her stomach, like a snake.

 _Fear._

The next few days were a blur, a mix of uncomfortable anticipation as she awaited Kakashi's recommended mentor to present himself and... anger. Anger that almost entirely washed away all other emotion. He'd abandoned both her and Naruto, shoving them off on someone else to train Sasuke.

While she understood that his intentions were to help Sasuke refine his doujutsu, something only he could do, the facts were there and staring her in the face; he prioritized Sasuke over not only her, but Naruto as well. Naruto didn't seem pleased with the situation either, and hadn't stopped vocalizing his discontent since.

"Stupid Kakashi. Stupid exams.." Sakura sighed, tossing a small stone into the stagnant pond forming in her parents back yard. It had been raining constantly for nearly a week, and the perpetual grey, muggy atmosphere was doing nothing to raise her spirits.

"Sakura, honey?" Her mother called from just beyond the sliding doors that lead from the back porch into the house.

"Coming." Sakura called, gathering her things and shuffling back onto the splintering wood of the back porch, kicking off her muddied sneakers by the door as she went.

"Have you seen your father today? He was supposed to take out the trash." Her mother sighed, huffing as she tucked a strand of short, blonde hair behind her ear.

"He had to go over to Uncle Jiro's." Sakura sighed, knowing her father wouldn't be back until the late hours of the night.

"That man…" Her mother sighed, green eyes turning to slits as she threw down her dish towel to start chopping vegetables, "if Jiro was as good at fixing pipes as he was at gambling he might… well," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tapped her nails against the glossed countertop.

"Forget it." She smiled tightly, "Sakura, honey? Could you please take out the trash?"

"Sure, mom." Sakura nodded, pulling the hood of her baby blue raincoat over her hair and shimmying the overfilled bag out of its plastic casing, haphazardly tying the top as she slid on her shoes and escaped through the back door.

The small yard was fenced in with a waist-high wall and just beyond the edge of her deck a little swinging gate opened up to the alley between her home and the bookstore next door.

Sighing, Sakura waded through the mushy earth toward the large aluminum cans on the side of her house, tossing the heavy bag inside with an annoyed sigh as she turned to peer into the street just beyond.

Surprisingly, a familiar orange jumpsuit clouded her vision. Naruto stood, just at the mouth of the alley, hands buried in his pockets as he stood, staring just beyond at something she couldn't see.

Squinting, she called out to him, confused as to what he could possibly be doing in the civilian sect of the village.

His head whipped so ferociously to the side she wouldn't have been surprised if his head spun around.

"Sakura-chah?" He exclaimed, blue eyes wide as he quickly jogged over to her, grinning wildly.

"What are you doing out here?" She muttered, leaning against the siding of her home.

"Heh.." Naruto smiled awkwardly, something strange swimming in his eyes as he scratched the back of his head, "I came to do some work at the bathhouse down the road. I just got off, actually."

Sakura's brows knitted, he was a shinobi. He was making a decent amount of money, why on earth would he be working at the dumpy little bathhouse on her side of town?

Before she could even begin to question his motives, he quickly reverted back to his cheerful, bouncy self. Despite an odd crinkle at the edge of his eyes.

"So is this where you live, Sakura-chan?" He grinned, thumbing towards the direction of her modest home and awkwardly patting the slightly yellowed siding for emphasis.

"Uh, yeah." She nodded, pointing to the gate near the back of her home, still swung slightly open.

"My mom is making dinner now, do you want to maybe come inside?" She questioned before her brain could fully comprehend that having Naruto's loudmouth self in her home with her strict mother could be a problem.

The way his eyes widened in surprise caused an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach, something almost akin to guilt.

"R…. really? You think that would be okay?" Naruto coughed, trying to hide the awkward blush touching his tanned features.

She smiled softly at him, silently reminding herself that despite his more annoying traits, Naruto had good traits too.

"Sure," she shrugged, motioning for him to follow her back through the alley, "my dad isn't home tonight so there should be more than enough to go around."

Naruto was awkwardly shuffling behind her as they made it to the door and she instructed him to remove his shoes. Apparently he didn't do that at his house, because he gave her a sideways glance as he dropped his sandals by the door, and she noticed for once that even though they were being compared to a ratty pair of her old shoes, his footwear still looked pretty rough. She didn't mention it as they crossed the threshold into her home.

"Mom, I ran into Naruto outside. Is it okay if he stays for dinner?" She called as she stepped into the kitchen to see her mother staring wide-eyed at her blonde haired teammate, the soup spoon she was once holding now clattering against the floor.

"Hey, be more careful!" Sakura sighed, bending down and grabbing the spoon off the floor, nose scrunching at the splatters of thick brown broth that now spotted the floor.

Her mother just silently stared for a moment longer, and while she silently bent down to gently take the wooden spoon from Sakura's hands and dab at the spilled soup with the tail of her apron, she dawned an eerily familiar tight lipped smile.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, I think I'm going to go." Naruto said in a voice so soft and flat Sakura had to turn around to see if it had actually come from the village's most notorious loudmouth.

His back was facing her and he was already shuffling to the back door when Sakura's mother finally spoke up.

"Nonsense, you should stay. A meal is always better with company." She smiled, her eyes crinkling around the edges as she nodded in affirmation to the wide eyed blonde boy.

Sakura, lost in the confusion of the oddly tense situation, awkwardly chuckled as Naruto seemed to perk up.

"Wow, is this you, Sakura-chan?" Naruto exclaimed, pointing to a picture on the wall.

It was a photo of her mother and father the day she was born, with her cradled in her mother's arms, cheeks rosy and hair a bright, bubblegum pink.

"Yes. She was such a fussy baby." Sakura's mother chuckled from across the room, her back leaning against the countertop as she took on a faraway look, a genuine smile dancing on her lips.

"Sakura's grandmother swore that she'd be fussy even before she was born, she said I didn't eat enough cold food." She grinned, snorting softly as she dreamily eyed the photograph.

"Whoa, really? So babies are fussy if you don't eat cold stuff?" Naruto questioned, continuing to eye the photograph.

"No, no. Our family comes from a country just across the sea, and Sakura's grandparents were very traditional. They said that pregnancy was a hot condition, and to maintain yin and yang, I should eat cold foods. I can't tell you how many times Sakura's grandmother stopped by just to bring me shaved ice or cold noodles."

"Huh, somewhere across the sea?" Naruto asked, staring surprisedly at Sakura and her mother.

The older blonde woman laughed as she turned down the heat on the stove and took a seat at the end of the table, "Yes. Sakura's father and I both visited this land as children, in fact. Our families were friends and in our country, skilled warriors. When we got old enough we decided we wanted to study the strange fighting style of the hidden villages, so we packed everything and moved out here with our families."

Sakura sighed, slumping down into a chair across from her mother, exasperated from hearing this story for the millionth time, yet Naruto looked like he was absolutely bursting at the seams.

"That's so cool! What was it like where you were from?" He exclaimed, voice rattling through the old house as he too took a seat at the table.

"Well," Sakura's mother sighed, "it was far from perfect. It was a very poor village. Sakura's father and I were very lucky to be born into military families, we didn't want for much. Still, our country seemed to constantly be at war with itself, it was a hard place to be, even in those times.

Most people in our village made a living either working in rice fields or herding animals. There wasn't much else to do. I'd love to regale you with exciting tails of foreign lands but unfortunately, there isn't much to say of our homeland." She smiled, resting her cheek in her palm with a sigh.

As the door to her house swung open, Sakura could see her father's unruly, pink mane before he even made it through the doorway.

"Ah, Mebuki." He grinned, bending over to tiredly kiss the blonde woman on the cheek before sleepily gazing in Sakura's direction, his eyes finally fell on their whiskered guest and while he too wore a look of shock for a moment, it quelled quickly into a friendly smile.

"You must be Naruto, it's good to meet you, I'm Kizashi." He said warmly, extending a hand to the young boy.

Naruto stared at it a moment in confusion, before hesitantly gripping the extended hand and offering an awkward shake.

"Well, dinner should be ready. Hope everyone's hungry." Mibuki laughed, shuffling pack over to the stove.

It felt like hours passed as Mebuki, Kizashi and Naruto chatted happily. It felt oddly natural, though an odd feeling continued stirring within Sakura as she noticed Naruto's eyes glimmering with excitement… and something else.

She had questions about her parents reaction too. They had both worn a very specific face and it was too obvious to be a coincidence. Memories of Naruto in the academy swam through her mind, the way adults picking up their young children would look at her blonde haired teammate, had her parents looked at him that way once too? Why, could it possibly be connected to the strange, orange chakra she'd seen unleashed from within him that day on the bridge?

As her mother and father receded to their room for the night, with a stern warning from her father to Naruto that made his cheeks turn an alarming shade of red, she walked him back out through the back door and into the backyard. He had paused, his orange clad back to her, and dipped his head back to stare silently at the large, silvery moon shining down on him.

"You're really lucky, Sakura-Chan." He said in a silent voice, just barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"You have a really good family, Sakura-Chan." He said, turning to smile at her, she finally understood why his back was to her, as she saw the fat teardrops catching the silvery glow of the moon.

She just stood, silently, feeling it wrong to say anything as Naruto hastily swiped at his face with his sleeve, a tight, broad smile plastered over his face.

"Anyway thanks for having me over, Sakura-chan, I should be going now, lot's to do-"

"Naruto," Sakura whispered, feeling her eyes water despite herself, "come over anytime you want. You're always welcome here."

The look of shock on his face ate to her core, as she realized this was probably the only time he'd eaten a family dinner, this was probably the only time he was even invited into a friends house. Suddenly, she felt horrible for never approaching the lonely boy on the playground- she wondered if it was wrong of her to feel that way.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan." Naruto smiled a small, genuine smile as he disappeared through the gate from her backyard.

"Idiot." She smiled to herself, green eyes now soaking in the sight of the night sky, it really was beautiful.

She wondered if the breeze was causing the sudden warmth on her cheeks, or if it was the tears.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, simply staring at nothing, recalling every brief memory she had of her teammates. Did Sasuke feel like Naruto did? Was it wrong to feel… disconnected from the two? How could she begin to feel what he did when she couldn't imagine a world without her parents? How lonely had they been?

The strange, but obvious bond Naruto and Sasuke shared had always been something she'd made guesses at, but she was sure the solidarity of two young boys who had very little had connected them in a way she'd never be able to understand. It made her feel a little awkward, but it also felt kind of nice. Knowing that at least the two understood each other and, in that sense at least, they weren't entirely alone.

Something soft and warm slid over her shoulders, and as a gentle kiss was placed on top of her head her eyes once again prickled with tears. Damn her crybaby eyes.

"He's a nice boy." Mebuki smiled, sitting down on the edge of the deck, joining her daughter in admiration of the sky.

"Why do people dislike him so much?" Sakura questioned, pulling the blanket closer against her chest as she sat down beside her mother, leaning her head onto the older woman's shoulder.

Her mother hummed in thought for a moment, "What do you think?" She questioned vaguely, almost as if the answer just barely danced on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't dare speak it into life.

"I…" Sakura hesitated, eyes squinting in thought, "I don't know. Maybe because Naruto is different, compared to most people."

"People tend to fear things that are different, or things that remind them of bad memories." Mebuki hesitated, her eyes darkening slightly, a soft frown touching her lips.

"Did… do you and dad see Naruto as something like that, something bad?" Sakura whispered, hand trembling slightly as she felt something painful twist into her gut, had she in some way made Naruto's life harder?

Her mother sat silently for a long time, eyes low to the wet earth as she placed a gentle hand on Sakura's head,

"People isolated Naruto because he reminds them of something bad. I knew someone very similar to Naruto in my youth...so your father and I never looked at Naruto as something bad, something to be tucked away and forgotten. However, standing on the sidelines and never saying anything, never extending a hand- well.. Sometimes that can be worse than someone who says or does cruel things."

Sakura hardly slept that night, strange dreams of blurred faces and poppies kept her sleepily waning in and out of rest. When the sun peeked over her bedroom window that morning, a strange sensation tingled just at the top of her head.

"Sakura, honey?" Her father rasped, knuckles lightly padding against her door as he sleepily scratched at his messy, pink mane.

"Aa?" Sakura yawned, opening the door to see her father's smiling face.

"Good morning, kiddo. Your Sensei is at the door." He grumbled, swaying slightly as he waltzed back into his bedroom.

Sakura hurried down the hall into the kitchen, her father had been correct, Kakashi sat just at the end of her kitchen table, his usual smut pressed tight against his face as her mother stood, arms-crossed and face swelling red with anger.

"Good Morning, Sakura." Kakashi smiled behind his mask, eye crinkling slightly as he slid out from behind the shabby table.

"What are you doing here so early?" Sakura yawned, green eyes narrowed in suspicion. She didn't think Kakashi even knew a time before twelve existed.

He feigned a hurt expression as he pulled a small envelope from within his flak jacket, holding it out to her with a smile. "I told you I'd find you a mentor for the chunin exams, didn't I?"

Snatching the fold of paper from his hands she hastily unfolded the letter, face seeming to grow darker as she carefully took in each word.

"Thanks." She grumbled, turning on a heel and directing herself back the way she had come. She could feel her eyes growing warm but she wouldn't allow him the satisfaction.

Her mother called out to her, tone tight and surprised, but Sakura didn't dare turn around. She could hear Kakashi speaking silently with her mother for a moment, but as she receded into the bathroom the sound of voices just seemed to bleed away.

She quickly locked the door and flipped on the shower, releasing the breath she'd been holding had felt like a weight being removed from her chest, tears dripped down her cheeks and emassed at her chin as she climbed under the hot spray of water.

She wanted to scream and stomp her feet and curse Kakashi and his stupidity and irresponsibility. She wanted to throw a tantrum like a child in a grocery store but she refused to let him know how much he had let her down- firstly, because then she'd have to face the crushing realization that he probably didn't care and secondly… because it was like an admission of jealousy toward her teammates, Sasuke in particular. What would he think of her? Would he call her childish? A brat?

After she was washed and her eyes dry and puffy she brushed her teeth and tied her fluffy, yellow bathrobe around her, hesitantly peeping her head out of the bathroom door.

Her plan had been thwarted, however, for the moment she cracked open the door she was met with the familiar red and white pattern of her mother's dress.

When she met Mebuki's eyes, her mother's anger seemed to die down to confusion, her blonde brows twisting together and arms uncrossing as she examined her daughter a moment before sighing and leaning against the door frame.

"We're going to forget the disrespect you just showed to an elder for a moment," Mebuki sighed, "what happened back there?"

Hesitantly, Sakura dropped the now-slightly crumpled letter into her mother's hands, eyes falling hard to the floor as her mother skimmed through the letter, finally sighing as she placed a firm hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Sakura, get dressed and meet me in the backyard." She nodded, dipping down through the hall, leaving a stunned Sakura in her wake.

Confused and prepared to be scolded, she did as instructed, quickly slipping into her bedroom and throwing on a pair of khaki shorts and a loose fitting, light green t-shirt.

She slipped through the back door and stepped out onto the still wet earth. Oddly, her mother was nowhere in sight.

"Sakura, come here a moment."

Sakura cautiously approached the back gate, green eyes narrow as she stepped into the alley where her mother stood, purse slung loosely over her arm as she nodded her head towards the mouth of the alley.

"Let's go on a walk." Mebuki smiled, green eyes glistening with mischief as she looped her arm around her daughter's, hooking her by the elbow.

Cheeks slightly red with the embarrassment of being dragged along by her mother, she shuffled silently alongside as her mother happily weaved through the people in the streets, smiling at passerby.

The path they walked was oddly familiar, and Sakura was certain her mother had a specific goal in mind on where she was set on going- but couldn't fathom exactly _where_ they were going.

After about fifteen minutes a small, wooden house just on the outskirts of the village came into view, her uncle Jiro's home.

Pink brows knit slightly as her mother knocked on the door, she refrained from asking any questions- certain her mother wouldn't tell her anyway.

The door slid open and she was met with her uncle's familiar, tanned face. Her uncle Jiro was a tall, broad man with dark features much like her father's, he wore his traditional tangzhuang coat and a confused grin as he stared at the two Haruno women.

"Ha, Mebuki, Sakura!" He smiled, giving Sakura a soft pat on the head, "Look at you, it feels like forever since I've seen you. Come in, I'll make some tea."

Mebuki hummed happily as she lead her daughter into the house, and Sakura cautiously followed her uncle into the kitchen.

"Jiro, would you mind if Sakura and I took a look at grandmother's old things?" She smiled, green eyes still glistening.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Everything's in the store room in the back. There isn't a whole lot back there, Kizashi took most of it back to your place." He laughed, setting the kettle on the stove and scratching his short, black hair.

"Honestly, most of that stuff is just mom's old junk, Kizashi and I nearly killed each other over dad's old armor, but I knew Kizashi would probably put more use to it anyway," Jiro laughed, reminiscing for a few moments with Mebuki as he lead them back farther into the house, pointing into a small room full of boxes.

"Good luck trying to find anything in that mess, you know how my mother was- the woman kept everything." He sighed, excusing himself to go and get the kettle off the stove.

"Mom, what are we looking for, exactly?" Sakura questioned, nose wrinkling at the smell of dust and age wafting off the antiques.

"Don't worry, about it," Mebuki grinned, wagging a finger at her daughter, "it's a surprise. Now grab some boxes and let's start looking!"

"How can I help you if I don't know what I'm looking for- hey, ow!" Sakura hissed, rubbing the now tender patch on her head where her mother had smacked her with a folding fan.

"Stop asking questions and just start looking." Mebuki sighed.

Sakura began peering through the boxes of her grandmother's things, smiling at the small knick knacks and odd things her grandmother had collected throughout the years. Fond memories of afternoon's with her grandparents flashed through her mind.

She remembered that for everything in the room her grandmother had a story, sure they were mostly dramatization and slightly foggy memory, but she'd always loved them nonetheless. Her grandparents had been so proud of their home country she was surprised they'd been willing to leave.

After nearly an hour of searching and three cups of jasmine tea- courtesy of her doting uncle who was very concerned she or her mother were going to strain themselves sifting through heavy boxes, which they were not, her mother finally exhaled with excitement.

"Okay, she hummed. That should be everything!" She breathed, lifting a now full box off the ground with a grunt and shimmying through the doorway, giving a quick and confusing goodbye to her uncle as she hurried happily out the door.

Chasing behind her mother as the older woman seemingly ignored every question she attempted to ask, Sakura sighed, tired and confused as her mother walked up the tall steps leading to the front door of the home.

Kizashi met them at the door, confused to realize that when he'd finally woken up his family had disappeared. With jovial happiness at seeing his wife and daughter he proudly took the box from his wife with a heady grunt and lead them into the living room, gently setting the box down on the floor as he sank into his reclining chair with a deep sigh.

"Jiro called and said you'd stopped by to look through mom's stuff, passing some family history down to our daughter?" Kizashi grinned, shooting Sakura a playful wink as he nodded towards the cardboard box.

"Go ahead, Sakura, open it." Mebuki smiled, "you might find yourself feeling better when you do."

Curiously Sakura folded back one if the cardboard flaps on the box, grabbing a bundle if silk that sat on top.

"A…" Sakura began, squinting slightly, "a qipao?" Sakura questioned, examining the dress, though it seemed more like a top. It was similar to the red qipao she already wore, but much shorter, the silken fabric was a bright red and the embroidery around the straight collar a still shimmery and pristine white, a decorative pattern around the side featured a swan and several variations of flower, the sleeves were long and ended with a triangular pattern to lay over the back of the hand, with small loops to be used around the middle fingers to keep the fabric in place.

"It was your grandmother's when she was your age, look what was underneath it." Mebuki smiled, tipping her head toward the box in encouragement.

Cautiously, Sakura grabbed a long strip of black spandex out of the box, unfolding it carefully as to not damage the fabric.

It was a pair of black tights, the fabric was thin and tight and she could see that small circles of white stretched from the side of one of the legs to the ankle, it was a dragon coiled in a circle, her family crest- the ouroboros.

"Grandmother wore this?" Sakura gasped in surprise.

"Yes. In her time it was scandalous, but she thought that it was impractical for a woman to fight in a dress." Mebuki grinned, "She didn't want to sacrifice the beauty in her clothes either- but she didn't want to be slowed down by restrictive fabric, so she tailored this suit herself for combat. You remember what your grandmother used to say, don't you?"

"A woman has to be strong to survive." Sakura sighed, repeating the mantra her grandmother had drilled into her head since her youth.

"That's right. Keep going." Mebuki smiled.

Beneath the articles of clothing were various decorative hair pins and little bobbles, and at the bottom of the box laid an ornate bow.

Sakura pulled the surprisingly weighty bow from the box, it was crafted from a dark, polished wood and had a thicker appearance than most, tiny, carved blossoms extended from both tips. The colored paints still glossy and pristine.

Kizashi laughed, "I remember that, when I was younger your grandmother would make Jiro and I spend _hours_ trying to use that thing- we were never any good at it, of course. Jiro nearly took out your mother's eye with it once!"

"Oh goodness, I remember. That's how we met." Mebuki laughed, playfully slapping Kizashi on the arm.

"Jiro was finally getting the hang of it- almost actually hit the target for once too, and your mother was across the street with her father when-"

"When an arrow came flying through the canopy of a fruit stand I was at, the tip broke off in the canopy but the shaft fell through and poked me so hard in the eye I had to wear a patch for months." Mebuki finished, eyes teary with laughter.

"I was so scared my brother had blinded your mom I promised her dad I'd do anything to make up for it." Kizashi grinned, "and then he socked me to hard in the eye _I_ thought I was going to go blind."

Sakura laughed, enamored with the bow in her hands as she sat, examining it for a very long time. Though the anger from earlier was still deep in her belly, her mother was right, she did feel a little better.

Yet, like all good things, the short few days of familial bliss had to end. For tomorrow she would need to meet with her temporary mentor- and face the reality that she'd be going into the next portion of the chunin exams just as unprepared as she had been for the first.

 _Woo, new update. I really like the HC that Sakura is Chinese so I tried to focus a bit on that as well as her family dynamic. I wish they would have shown a little more of her family in the series._

 _I'll try to find a regular schedule for updates that way chapters are coming out at a more stable pace, it's just a big process trying to make a chapter that's around 7k words long. I re-read this chapter a bit more than the last but knowing me there's probably still some errors and rambling. I tried to make it as detailed and possible- but I suck at writing fight scenes. Hopefully it lives up to the first chapter. I'm working on the third now and I've got lots of ideas. Also, thanks a lot to the two people who left reviews, and Nunu212. I really appreciate it. It means a lot._

 _Also, I don't really remember how big the gap was between the first and second part of the chunin exams were? But I'm assuming it was a couple weeks, and if it's not we'll just pretend it is._


	3. Tea

_Of all the melodramatic, pitiable things that have happened to her in the last week, this was arguably earning its title near the top of her list._

She knew the moment she read the name on Kakashi's summons that her mentor was going to be a dud- she was actually _quite_ familiar with this particular instructor. He'd been a substitute teacher on a few occasions that Iruka-Sensei couldn't make it into class or needed a helping hand in controlling the overzealous students, not that he was much help anyway.

Mr. Gozou was just about as useful as a daycare teacher- especially when it came to combat.

It was clear in the first few hours that he was simply walking her though the basic motions of movement and giving her brief, sloppy lectures he was nearly reciting word for word from sections taken from academy textbooks.

She almost longed for running laps around the village, at least then she'd feel like she was doing something productive. Also, Naruto was nowhere in sight and Mr. Gozou was hesitant to give her an answer explaining his absence. It wouldn't surprise her if Naruto had one look at the man and took off out of spite- or simply made a scene to which the older, stuffy acting man couldn't condone.

She considered just leaving too, as she was just wasting time at this point, she didn't even bother wearing her shinobi garb, knowing there would be no point.

After a couple of hours she was sent home with all but a gold star for her efforts, feeling more childish and patronized than ever before- she wondered if Kakashi just loved seeing her fail. She also wondered if he even cared if she did, and if her temporary mentor was any indication- she'd didn't think so.

On her way back she noticed something unusual, the older brunette who she'd seen help drag away the strange green-clad shinobi. The brown haired girl was standing in the centre of one of the training grounds, the scene was odd. It almost looked like a weapons scroll had exploded.

"Oh, hey." The brunette smiled, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead as she began to pick up the assortment of weapons strewn around the training ground, "It's Sakura, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Sakura nodded, bending down to grab a handful of senbon, "Sorry, I never got your name." She smiled sheepishly, feeling awkward, she was sure she'd heard it during the exams, but couldn't place it.

"It's Tenten," the older girl laughed, thanking the pinkette as she carefully placed the senbon over a blank scroll, "I saw your match, congratulations."

"Thanks." Sakura smiled, still feeling a bit awkward over the bare-fisted, raw fight she and Ino had managed to conjure. It lacked the grace and wit most shinobi battles included- and left her feeling guilty and embarrassed.

"It's still so strange to me…" Tenten sighed, scratching her head as she sealed the pile of weapons back into a scroll and strapped it to her hip, "I have thousands of weapons, and all it took was one chick with a _fan_ to take me out." She snorted, Sakura was sure the older girl was trying to make a joke, but she could see the sadness behind it.

"Yeah." Sakura nodded, "If I'd been paired with anyone else during the exams… well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be moving on to the next phase. That's for sure."

Tenten raised a brow to the other girl, wiping some of the dirt from her hands onto her pants as she began to walk beside Sakura, "The exams are no joke, people die there. Most people don't even make it out of the forest. You should count that alone as an accomplishment."

Sakura smiled, lips tight as she tried to focus her eyes ahead. Memories of the snake-like man and the sound ninja danced around in her head, she wondered if any of the other genin teams could even fathom what their experience in the forest had been like. She herself wondered if she could fully grasp what she'd seen.

"Yeah… I don't think I'll be able to luck out on the next round." Sakura grumbled, wondering why she was telling this girl her problems. She didn't need to seem more pitiable than she already was, or felt.

"Hey, isn't Hatake Kakashi your mentor?" Tenten exclaimed, causing Sakura to halt in her tracks, face growing red, "Gai-Sensei talks about him all the time- he's supposed to be some legendary copycat ninja, what are _you_ worrying about?"

"He's not training me." Sakura grit, feeling her fists involuntarily clench at her sides. She kept the tears back, simply feeling vulnerable and frustrated had left her emotionally sensitive but she'd be damned if she made a fool of herself.

"Really? Why not, if you don't mind me asking."

"He's off training another one of my teammates. Just kind of left Naruto and I in the dust." Sakura breathed, pushing some stray bangs from her face.

"What a jerk."

Surprised, Sakura looked up to see the older girl momentarily deep in thought, brown eyes lighting up before she smiled widely, clapping a hand to the other girls shoulder, "Hey, I've got an idea!" She grinned.

Before Sakura could say anything else the other girl was directing her towards the centre of the village, she hadn't realized how far she'd actually strayed from the training grounds but it was too late to turn tail and return home, so she let the gleeful brunette pull her towards the innermost part of the village- unaware of where she was going and feeling sheepish at the sudden physical contact with the newly met brunette so she simply blushed and tried to keep pace.

They stopped somewhere in the shinobi quarters of the village, where a bar or a weapons shop sat at every corner. She stared lamely at the brunette who was signaling her to wait a moment, before she sprinted up to a collection of townhomes, knocking loudly on one of the doors.

In little more than a few seconds the door flew open and Sakura swore, for no better explanation came to mind, the air began to glitter around a freakishly tall, green clad man. She saw the most identical resemblance she could imagine to an older version of Tenten's teammate- a far louder, dramatic version too.

Sakura could sense where this was going, and though she was sure the older girl had the best of intentions, and considered running now for both her sanity and future hearing abilities.

"Tenten!" Gai gasped, clutching both of the annoyed looking brunette's hands, "you've come to visit your sensei!"

Tenten cleared her throat, tiredly retracting her hands and dusting them off once again, "Actually, Gai-Sensei. I had a favor to ask." She smiled, the dark haired man now absolutely _beaming._

"Of course, my young pupil. What can I assist you with?" He grinned, placing a firm hand over his hip as he stared intently at his student.

"Well…" Tenten smiled, nodding her head in the direction of the pinkette. Sakura suddenly felt _very_ awkward. Like an uninvited guest. She didn't know either of these people well enough to ask _anything_ of them. She was also well aware that Naruto was going up against Tenten's teammate in the final part of the exam- according to Ino.

"Ah, if it isn't one of Kakashi's students!" Gai exclaimed, strolling down the steps to extend a hand to Sakura, she meekly shook his hand, cheeks feeling hot as she tried to look anywhere but his dramatic grin.

Tenten must have sensed her discomfort, because she quickly stepped beside her, smiling tightly at her mentor, "Gai-Sensei, would it be okay if Sakura came to training with us tomorrow?"

"Training, huh?" Gai sighed, scratching his head in thought.

"I don't mean to impose." Sakura said quickly, face feeling unusually hot as she tried to gather her thoughts. Things had been happening so quickly, and so _oddly_ recently.

"No, it's not that." Gai smiled, "isn't Kakashi training you for the exams?" He questioned, thick brows drawn together in question.

"He's training one of her other teammates one-on-one, and since Neji is training at the compound right now and Lee is…" She trailed off, eyes looking distant for a moment before Gai stepped forward, gently rustling her hair with a smile so tender and genuine Sakura nearly felt like she she look away.

"The more the merrier. Have you had any weight training, Sakura?" He questioned, smile softer than before.

"Only in the academy." Sakura smiled, feeling heat once again rising to her cheeks.

"Hm. You just look like your build is best suited for speed. Kakashi never did like taijutsu, preferred ninjutsu to anything else." Gai mumbled, seemingly deep in thought as he circled the young girl.

"Do you have any weights?" He questioned, to which Sakura quickly shook her head, once again feeling awkward.

"That's no problem, I'll just loan you and old pair of Lee's, eh? I'm sure he won't mind." Gai smiled, winking as he climbed up the steps to his home, waving for the two girls to follow him inside.

Hesitantly, Sakura climbed the steps just behind Tenten, who looked entirely comfortable as she strolled inside, plopping down on a long, white couch once inside. She happily patted a seat beside her as Gai disappeared into a back room, presumably to grab the leg weights.

"I know he can seem like a bit much," Tenten sighed, "but he's an excellent teacher, he really does push you to your limits."

"Did you do weight training too?" Sakura asked, folding her hands in her lap, feeling slightly more comfortable than before.

"Yeah, we all did." Tenten smiled, "Gai-Sensei is very serious about the importance of training your body. It was actually probably for Lee, mostly."

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned, from what she saw Lee was outstanding with Taijutsu, far beyond what most Jounin bothered with. It was almost an outdated form of combat.

"Lee can't perform ninjutsu or genjutsu." Tenten nodded, taking in Sakura's look of surprise. "Yeah, I know. I was surprised too, but he never let that stop him. He was desperate to prove he could make a name for himself despite that."

Sakura had questions, but the look in Tenten's eyes portrayed that she didn't want to continue, and after what Ino said went on between Gaara and Lee, she wasn't surprised. So she settled on saying nothing, knowing pity wasn't well received in the ninja world.

Gai returned not long after, two weights clasped tightly in his fist, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

"These are Lee's old training set, they should be good for practice tomorrow. If you do well, we'll move up a size." He said, bending down to strap them tightly around her calves. She immediately felt a burn in her muscles. There was no way this was Lee's _training set._ She grunted in discomfort as the weights pulled uncomfortably on her skin.

Tenten snorted softly, offering a sympathetic smile to the pinkette as Gai examined her once again, nodding to himself as he dropped into a chair across from the two girls.

"Go ahead and do a lap around the village tonight, Tenten you should join her. The hydrangeas are in full bloom." He smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye as he waved the two girls off, Sakura wincing and grunting at every step.

Tenten walked beside her, helping to stabilize the younger girl as she made her way down the steps, a feat that took nearly five full minutes.

"Guess Gai-Sensei is trying to push you." Tenten smiled, "Neji and I started at fifty pounds per weight, but Lee had to be over the top as usual."

"How much are these?" Sakura winced, not sure she could make it twenty more feet let alone around the entire village.

"Seventy-five."

"You don't have to come with me, you did so much already." Sakura waved, feeling awkward making Tenten trot alongside her at such a slow pace.

"Don't worry about it, it's better to have someone with you anyway. I passed out the first time." She chuckled, admiring the handiwork of a handcrafted katana at one of the nearby stands as Sakura strained to follow behind her, body already screaming with pain.

"Really?" Sakura panted, stomach twisting with cramps as she forced herself forward, nearly toppling over the awkward shift in weight.

"Oh, yeah." Tenten nodded, "Neji had a hard time making it even halfway through the village and he's… Well, he's good at _everything_."

"Yeah, I saw some of his fight with Hinata. So she's his cousin?" Sakura breathed, trying to find anything to speak about, suddenly very grateful the other girl had come along, she needed something to distract her from the ungodly pain her legs were in.

"Yeah," Tenten paused, examining a shop window with mild interest, "his family is very… traditional, you know? He isn't as cruel as he seemed. He's actually a very sincere person."

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned, beads of sweat now rolling down the back of her neck, causing her long hair to stick uncomfortably beneath the collar of her top.

"The Hyuga clan is actually one of the founding clans, they came here just after the Senju and Uchiha formed the village." Tenten smiled, "They're divided into two parts, the main family and then the branch family."

"That's how most clans work, don't they?"

"Yeah, but not the way the Hyuga do…" Tenten trailed, "the Hyuga treat the branch family like outsiders. Essentially a pecking order that has nothing to do with strength or abilities, you're just instant born and branded as something, lesser…" She muttered face twisting in anger as she kicked at some loose earth, waiting for Sakura to catch up to her.

"I just figured all clans worked that way…" Sakura grumbled, brow now drenched in sweat as she attempted to waddle in a way that at least lessened the sting in her thighs.

"I wouldn't know for sure, but I've seen how Neji's uncle talks to him… _treats_ him. I just... makes me sick, you know? I think that's why Neji was so hard on his cousin. That's the only chance he'd ever get to stand up to a main branch family member."

"That makes sense," Sakura nodded, "but is that really Hinata's fault?"

Tenten sighed, "No, not really. She's not really exposed to a lot of the lower branch members. She's the heir to the clan, so aside from the handmaid's I doubt she even has to look at the branch members often."

"Can't imagine what it's like… to live like that." Sakura mumbled, finding it hard to catch her breath. She felt oddly delirious, but also _incredibly_ nauseous.

"Yeah." Tenten snorted, "I can't imagine being from such a big, well-known family. My family owns a weapon shop on the other side of the village, and some of our _regulars_ still call me Tenako."

Sakura chuckled despite herself, feeling oddly jovial in the other girl's company.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," Tenten paused, taking a moment to meet Sakura's eyes, "Your family isn't from around here, right?"

Sakura paused and would have collapsed had Tenten not looped an arm around her, steadying her wobbling legs, Sakura found that if she stopped moving she couldn't keep her knees from knocking uncomfortably together, yet when moving they still trembled from the weight. She felt more like a newborn calf than a shinobi in training.

"Uh, yeah." Sakura coughed, face feeling hot, "My parents came from across the sea."

"I thought so." Tenten smiled, "So does mine. Were you born here?"

Sakura nodded, feeling an odd sense of familiarity now that she examined the other girls features and clothing, so familiar to her own.

"I wasn't," Tenten whistled, "but my parents brought me over with them when they decided it would be more profitable to sell unique, handcrafted weapons here. Guess you can only make so many swords before you get bored." She chuckled.

"Did your parents train you?"

"Oh, no. I mean, not outside of the usual stuff. I just, well, I wanted my own style." She smiled wistfully, wind lightly tossing the bangs framing her heart-shaped face.

"I can respect that." Sakura smiled, now nearly gasping as she spoke, but sincerely in some strange way, enjoying conversing with the other girl.

"Yeah, problem was I just couldn't pick a weapon I wanted to commit to." Tenten sighed, "and there's definitely _no_ shortage of choices either."

"So you settled on all of them?"

"Yeah, bit over the top, isn't it?" Tenten sighed, smile receding only a fraction as her pace slowed slightly. "Lee and Neji are just so…"

"Unique." Sakura finished, now awkwardly trying to use the leverage from the weights to swing into steps, hoping it would ease some of the immense bodily pain she was experiencing.

"Yeah," Tenten groaned, "Neji has his byakugan and Lee, well, he's just about unstoppable if he really puts his mind to something."

"Believe me," Sakura whistled, "I get where you're coming from."

Sakura eventually lost track of how long she and Tenten had been talking, they spanned many subjects, mostly little facts about themselves and small talk, but Sakura felt a strange kinship to the other girl. She genuinely enjoyed her company, and Tenten had been right, that agonizing trek would have been impossible had the other girl not been there to keep her mind off the pain, Sakura would not have made it.

When Tenten helped her walk into her home, dropping her off with excitement in her eyes as she promised to meet her at the training grounds tomorrow, Sakura found herself feeling very giddy.

She slept like a rock that night, no dreams of blurred faces and no strange fields of poppies. She woke the next morning feeling refreshed mentally- but physically she wondered if she could walk to the training grounds, let alone participate in whatever hellish feat the green clad jonin could possibly conjure.

Tenten picked her up that day, as promised, happily talking with her parents as she waited for Sakura to get ready, seemingly in no rush. They chatted happily on their way to the training ground. The subject matter much lighter than the day before, but interesting and engaging nonetheless.

Sakura was surprised, to say the least, to see Gai standing happily in the center of training ground ten, looking just as enthusiastic and energetic as the day before. She assumed she'd become so used to Kakashi's tardiness that the mere thought of a mentor being on time was refreshing and exciting- it felt like he truly wanted to be there, teaching and interacting with them. Sakura wondered if her insecurities were always so obvious to her teammates and sensei, she wondered if it was childish for her to want to feel wanted.

"Tenten, it's good to see you, and Sakura!" Gai exclaimed, the air around him once again mysteriously gleaming, "Tenten relayed to me that you were able to complete the test! Excellent work!"

She blushed, feeling less patronized than she would had anyone else spoke to her that way. As annoying as he could be, Gai really was an excellent teacher.

"For now, let's just do some stretches so Sakura can prepare her muscles, okay?" Tenten spoke, reaching into the black duffle bag she had previously slung over her shoulder, producing two tightly rolled foam mats, and handing a soft blue one to Sakura with a smile.

Sakura took the rolled mat with an appreciative nod, rolling it out on the grassy patch just below her, watching as Tenten and Gai did the same. She noticed how well team ten seemed to work together, even with only two members present, there was a certain give-and-take that showed equality and respect between both mentor and student.

Sakura soon realized that even the warm ups were extreme, though by the end of it her sore muscles had started to ease. They struck poses Sakura had never seen and still managed to look at ease while doing it. Gai clearly had a very literal mantra of taking care of the mind and the body, as he showered both students with praise but silently corrected them when they made mistakes- or, when Sakura had made mistakes, she should say.

After that they eased into sparring, first Gai and Sakura so that he could get a better feeling of her strengths and the areas that needed improvement, which were expansive and she could see in his eyes that he was confused by her sub-par physical state, yet he said nothing to that effect, instead he told her to try her hand against Tenten.

While the match was slightly more lengthy, and just barely at that, Tenten too seemed to be silently instructing her as they fought, but she pulled no punches. She was quick and vicious with her attacks, aiming mostly for center of mass and balance distribution. She managed to trip Sakura so many times Sakura doubted she would ever get the grass stains out of her top.

Gai watched them spar intently, nodding to himself as he seemed to scan every movement on both sides of the field. He then went over the error in Tenten's stances and technique at length, though Sakura had thought her fighting style to be nearly flawless and elegant in nature. She gulped as he turned to her, knowing there was little if anything positive to say about her performance.

He held nothing back as he critiqued everything from her sloppy attacks to her sluggish movements, and Sakura feared all the blood in her body had ran to her face as with every criticism her legs felt more and more unsteady, the forgotten ache from earlier returning with a vengeance. Near the end of his lecture Sakura felt as though she should take a seat from the sheer magnitude of his words. She felt small once again, her mind wandering oddly back to the day on the bridge so long ago- how helpless and useless she'd felt as she watched Sasuke and even Naruto display the true gap between the three of them.

"You have a very nice build for speed, suited best for a long-range fighting style, however," Gai sighed, dragging a hand through his inky black hair, "I can see promise in your close-range attacks too."

"I've never had much endurance," Sakura frowned, "In the academy I was listed as a genjutsu type, so my curriculum was standardized to that." She shrugged sheepishly, trying not to reveal the fact that she was deeply embarrassed by the whole situation.

"I figured."Gai smiled, ruffling the pinkett's hair in hopes of erasing her forlorn expression, "There's still promise, and as long as you're willing to learn I'm willing to teach."

The rest of that day was focused on endurance and a recap of the basics, yet with more hands-on and strict regimes than she was used to. Her team focused mostly on advanced technique with little forethought or preparation. For as well as Gai seemed to know Kakashi, which she had learned through his lengthy stories of their so called 'rivalry', they couldn't seem more different. If anyone could be seen as the polar opposite of Kakashi, it would be Gai.

When they were finished Sakura was spitting blood and her knuckles felt as though they had shattered beneath her skin- but she felt good, the rush of adrenaline from such a strenuous workout had numbed some of her pain. She felt empowered, and as Tenten laughed loudly beside her, also looking as though she'd been dragged from one side of the village to the other, Sakura imagined something strange.

What would it have been like if she'd been placed on another team? One better suited to her like this one? A team without three impossibly gifted shinobi, a team of normal genin with normal aspirations. Guilt bubbled just beneath the thought, but she still shamelessly wondered what her life would have been like.

"Hey, are you listening?" Tenten laughed, happily smacking Sakura on her bloodied arm, to which Sakura groaned but smiled despite herself.

Tenten sighed dramatically, "I asked if you were hungry, I'm starving!"

"I could eat." Sakura smiled, a thought quickly drifted into her mind, "No ramen though."

Tenten's nose scrunched quizzically, "I don't really like ramen anyway. I was thinking about the teahouse on Taku street, do you like soba?"

Practically beaming, the two girls made their way into the inner depth of the village, the strange question still ebbing into her mind, what if?

Sakura was familiar with the specific teahouse Tenten had mentioned, it was a favorite of her parents and whenever they had the money when she was younger, they would come and drink tea and soak in the hot springs across the street.

While they were far too bloodied and scuffed up to take a soak at the bathhouse, the waitress didn't seem to mind their rough looking attire- not surprising considering its proximity to the shinobi training grounds- and soon the two girls were happily chatting and enjoying the freshly brewed jasmine tea that had made this particular teahouse such a popular spot.

Just as Tenten was in the middle of a surprisingly funny tale of her team's first out-of-village mission, a head of spiky, white hair caught her attention. It wasn't like Kakashi's silvery mane, but stark white and sticking up in all directions. The man it was attached to was no less puzzling, she couldn't see his face but the bright red attire he wore had drew her attention with ease. She was sure he was a shinobi, by the clothing alone. A foreigner maybe?

"That's weird." Tenten hummed, her attention now focused on the man Sakura had been openly gawking at.

"What is?"Sakura commented, leaning forward as she expected a hushed response.

Instead, she was met with an incredibly bemused attention as Tenten's brown eyes sparkled with amusement, "I didn't know you were into old dudes."Tenten snarked, laughing as Sakura batted at her.

"You can't tell me he doesn't look out of place," Sakura muttered, stirring her cup of soup, still stealing glances at the oddly dressed man, now leaning in closely to the waitress, whispering something into her ear. Her own ears perked up a bit, as she strained to catch his words over the happily chatting patrons.

Tenten too seemed to be trying to read the man's lips, and if her expression was any inclination, the waitresses unhappy gasp was entirely due. Not moment's later a sharp slap silenced most of the chatting as everyone strained to see where it had originated.

Sakura was confused to see the man wearing a horned headband, and etched into it was the insignia of her village. He was a leaf shinobi.

Not much more thought could be put into this discovery, as the door to the teahouse soon flew open, and though it obscured her view- she knew that voice anywhere.

"Hey! Prevy-sage!" An enraged, wheezing Naruto screamed from behind the door, "You get back to the bathhouse and pay your tab! Mitsuki's gonna' kick my ass if... "

As the door slid shut Naruto's expression changed slowly from rage to confusion to glee as he caught glimpse of Sakura, that glee slowly fading into confusion and concern as he seemingly lost focus and stomped over to her booth, blue eyes widening the closer he got.

"Are ya' hurt, Sakura-chan?" He sputtered, leaning in close to examine her wounds, nose scrunched slightly as he shuffled around in the pocket of his apron, presumably his work uniform, from the snippet of what she'd heard.

"here," He smiled, a fluffy towel in hand, "It's s'pose to be one of those fancy essential oil towels for the ladies at the bathhouse."

Awkwardly taking the towel from his hands she lightly patted the wound on her shoulder- the one he had been examining the closest. She watched the odd white haired man shuffle over, clapping a hand over Naruto's shoulder as he bent forward, a surprisingly warm smile on his face as he greeted her.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura. Naruto has told me a lot about you." He grinned, "I'm Jariya."

Where has she heard that name before?

"You're one of the sannin!"

Everyone's eyes shifted to the now bashful looking Tenten- definitely a strange look for the usually assertive brunette. She cleared her throat and straightened herself out in the booth, attempting to look more casual.

Jiraiya grinned, slapping a hand on the table, "I prefer to be known for my work as an author." He swooned, shuffling around in his pockets as he procured a small book, "I am the mastermind behind Icha-Icha paradise!" He beamed, practically screaming over everyone in the restaurant.

Sakura's jaw nearly hit the table as the three gennin all gasped in surprise, Naruto screaming loud profanities at the gleaming man as he angrily wrestled the book away from the older man, securing it in his apron pocket as he grumbled under his breath.

"See what I've gotta' deal with?" Naruto lamented, whiskered cheeks twitching as the older man turned an amused look toward Sakura.

"Naruto tells me Kakashi left the two of you kind of dusted?"Jariya questioned, raising an eyebrow to Sakura as he examined her dirtied state, "But I see someone's taken you in. That's good."

"Yeah…" Sakura sputtered, still trying to understand what was happening, "Gai-Sensei let me join in on his training today, well, thanks to Tenten." Sakura smiled, shooting Tenten a genuine thanks for the millionth time today.

"It's no big deal, since… well, what happened to Lee. It's nice to have something on my mind." Tenten sighed, eyes darkening slightly as she folded her hands in her lap.

"Rock Lee is the boy who fought the sand ninja in the preliminaries, right?"Jariya questioned, sliding in beside her as he spoke, "Is he alright?"

Tenten nodded silently, eyes now firmly set downwards, "But the bones in his legs… they're just about crushed, they don't know if he'll ever be able to work in the field again." She whispered, voice cracking slightly.

"He's very lucky to be alive, but you shouldn't give up hope." he smiled, his demeanor warm and friendly once again, "they said I'd never get back up a thousand times, and a thousand times I did."

"You're so full of yourself, old man." Naruto huffed, slapping a hand onto the table and hunching himself over to eye the man more intensely, "Now come back and pay your tab."

The odd interaction quickly died down as Jiraiya excused himself to use the restroom, or go and flirt with the younger, bustier waitress that had the misfortune of starting her shift while he was around.

"So, who's this?" Naruto drawled, his mood obviously dampered by the threat of losing the job Sakura wasn't sure why he had in the first place. 

"This is Tenten, Naruto. Lee's teammate? We were talking about this literally a second ago." Sakura sighed, massaging her now aching temples.

"Heh. Sorry, Sakura-chan. Nice to meet ya' Tenten," Naruto grinned, "Sorry about bushy brows." He frowned, stuffing the discarded towel back into his apron.

"So he's been teaching you?" Tenten questioned, jabbing her thumb towards the direction Jariya had once been standing.

"Yeah, he's teaching me this super secret jutsu." Naruto grinned, eyes lighting up as he wagged his brows excitedly, jabbing Sakura with his elbow, "you'll be really impressed."

"Of course he is." She muttered beneath her breath, Naruto seemed to miss her snarky comment, but Tenten's knowing gaze seemed to lock on to the pinkette.

"Speaking of, I better go drag that pervert sage back to the bathhouse." Naruto sighed, straightening himself with a tired grunt, "see ya' later, Sakura-chan."

She waved tiredly as the blonde disappeared out of sight, noticing Tenten's sly smile.

"What?" Sakura sighed, knowing damn well what the brunette was going to say. She knew envy was an ugly trait, she told herself that enough.

"It's crazy how much we have in common." The brunette laughed, surprising Sakura as her shoulders slowly relaxed.

Tenten sank back into her seat, spreading herself out as she seemed to recall something funny.

"You know, it's hard enough being a female in this field. But with teammates like ours it's easy to feel invisible." She lamented, scratching at one if the neatly placed buns atop her head.

"Yeah, it is." Sakura frowned, feeling a little disappointed in herself for being so transparent, but also for being so petty about it.

"You just have to learn not to compare yourselves to them. Some people are just born with a natural edge."

"That's the problem…. Just once, I want _them_ to be the ones staring at _my_ back."

"Then I guess you'll have to learn to run faster." Tenten laughed, surely it was her attempt to lighten the mood, surely it was a kind hearted joke.

Yet, like how her grandmothers mantra was ebbed into her mind, Sakura decided at that moment that Tenten was right, and maybe, that could be her mantra.

The only way she could show them her back, was to be _faster._

 _I know this is a short chapter than the other ones, I hit a bad patch of writer's block and kind of got a bit lost. And to some of the people asking about pairings I'm sorry, I sincerely don't know what I'm going to do in that regard. If I decide to include a romance it'll probably be really subtle. I kind of just wanted to focus on team seven for right now._


End file.
